OK, Im washing my hands after going to the bathroom. I wash them good with soap and hot water, almost like a surgeon getting ready to go into surgery. Other people are walking out of the urinals AND stalls, just squirting a little hand sanitizer in their hands and walking out.

Is that enough? Would you prefer your users used soap and water or hand sanitizer or both?

54 Replies

no definitely not. My GF is a micro biologist and they tested a bunch of different brands of hand sanitizer and none of them actually do anything at all. you have to actually wash you hands to remove any sort of bacteria. All you do with hand sanitizer is mush them around in your hand and spread them then the sanitizer drys and the bacteria is right back on your skin like before.

Soap and water not only kills the bad stuff, but washes it away (and the dirt and grime that I get on my hands from all of the dusty PCs). Hand sanitizer I use sparingly and usually after touching some else's mouse & keyboard.

I actually see way too many people walk out of the bathroom without cleaning their hands in any fashion. No soap and water, no sanitizer, nothing. Just look at themselves in the mirror, then walk out. Yes, I have witnessed someone doing this after a #2 as well. It's been enough that I won't touch the door handle with a bare hand when i walk out of the bathroom anymore. I just hold on to the paper towel that i dried my hands with and use that to grip the door handle.

To take this thread a step further, I wonder how many people here drag around a pair of gloves or a keyboard for using at nasty user's computers.

I used to just wash my hands every time after, but it got to be too much handwashing and I had to switch to keeping a semi-portable wireless keyboard/mouse combo on a lanyard, which I wear around my neck like Flavor Flav while making my rounds.

I've also nourished the thought of wearing a mask as well, but haven't gotten the cans up to do it.